“Out of the way, whippersnappers.”
Armageddon: Inferno #4
DC Comics (July, 1992)
“The Gathering Of Heroes” WRITER: John Ostrander PENCILERS: Dick Giordano, Luke McDonnell, Art Adams, Tom Mandrake, Mike Netzer, & Walter Simonson INKERS: Frank McLaughlin, Bruce N. Soltoff, Terry Austin, Tom Mandrake, Mike Netzer, & Walter Simonson COLORISTS: Gene D’Angelo LETTERER: John Costanza ASSISTANT EDITOR: Scott Peterson EDITOR: Denny O’Neil
The Justice Society Of America arrives at Abraxis’ dimension but even with his mind split in five areas he is able to hold off all of the heroes in each time period as well as here. Then the “he” we’ve been following is inspired by the JSA to go on the offensive, taking some of Hawkman’s power (energy the JSA got from linking with the gods at Ragnarok) and using it to attack Abraxis. This in turn inspires other cattle, including the “she”, to join in the fight against the husks and sharing the god power to attack Abraxis. With Waverider unable to hold back time much longer, the JSA has to resume the battle at Ragnarok while the cattle and superheroes take down Abraxis. But Waverider has a surprise for the other heroes and puts the Daemon in the JSA’s place, so finally the Justice Society Of America can return home.
What they got right: If this was just an excuse to bring the JSA back to the DCU, they did a darn good job of it. While the JSA doesn’t get to win the final battle they inspire those Abraxis used to feed and gain power to fight back for themselves. I like that.
What they got wrong: If the Daemon were already prepared to destroy the world in the name of power and revenge, how did Waverider convince/force them to protect the Earth by continuing the prevention of Ragnarok until the spell on the Spear Of Destiny can be broken? I’d love to see that and find out if the spell and the Daemon could make a comeback in the New 52 or whatever it will be called at the end of Convergence. (More on that tonight.)
Recommendation: I’m sorry this didn’t lead to a Waverider ongoing similar to the Booster Gold series where Booster traveled around DC history and fixing things that went wrong. There was a lot of potential for this character and while we haven’t see the last of him DC never allowed Matthew Ryder to be what he could have become. Give this miniseries a read.
BW Media Spotlight 